I am excited with my brand new Xtracycle Edgerunner cargo bike. I tried it with the kids in a park last week. This week I start to carry some serious load on the street. The two boy weight 75 pounds combined. Keeping them balanced is a demanding challenge. So I have decided to do some training with myself first.

I brought two 4 gallon water bottle from Sport Basement for $15 each. When filled with water, each bottle weights 33 pounds. Having both bottle filled will be a good training exercise for carrying the kids. This is day 1, so I only filled one bottle. I carried 4 gallon of water over the hill from Presidio and get home without incidents. Not bad.

Here are a few things I have learned.

• This is a cargo bike. I have to accustom to the fact that it is just not as agile as a personal bike. In particular
• It has a large turn radius, avoid incline it too much.
• Any bumps on the the road is feel much more intensely with this bike. Go over even a small crack slowly.
• Learn how to stop and start while keeping it balance. Try it on a hill.

One good thing is this bike has super low gear. It is perhaps a little faster than walking. As such I have little problem hauling 4 gallons of water over the hill! This gives me confidence to tackle the slopes around my house.

As of the bottles, after the training, they will be useful for car camping. Otherwise, they serve as water storage for earthquake preparation.

2014.10.18 comments